Routine CT scans do not improve outcomes in chest pain without MI
A clinical trial published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that routine coronary CT angiography does not reduce the risk of heart attack or cardiovascular death in patients with acute chest pain who have already been ruled out for myocardial infarction. The study suggests that standard care is as effective as advanced imaging for this patient group.
Why it matters
The findings challenge current diagnostic practices and could influence medical guidelines regarding the use of expensive imaging technology in emergency care.
MUNICH - In patients with acute chest pain ruled out for MI, route coronary CT angiography did not reduce risk for subsequent MI or CV death compared with standard care, according to results of the TARGET-CTCA trial.
For the trial, presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress and simultaneously published in The New England Journal of Medicine , researchers randomly assigned 3,170 patients (median age, 61 years; 30.2% women) from 14 U.K. hospitals who presented with acute chest pain, had MI ruled out but were deemed by high-sensitivity cardiac troponin testing to be at intermediate risk for a CV event to receive outpatient coronary CTA-guided care or standard care.
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